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And if it is detected, the Visby should be quick enough to escape as it is only half as light as a conventional corvette. By using a composite material, they found one that could dramatically reduce a ship's signature, making it not only less detectable by radar, but also less prone to enemy mines and other forms of electronic detection such as infrared. The Swedes decided to switch from steel to plastic - two layers of carbon fibre filled with a PVC-like foam - in the search for a radar resistant material. "All the Baltic states are now in the European Union and the Russian navy is not so much of a threat anymore. "All of our exercises and training during the cold war period was a matter of stopping an enemy from the other side of the Baltic," says Lieutenant Commander Ulf Öberg of the Swedish navy. The Royal Swedish Navy began searching for a material for a stealth ship in the immediate aftermath of the cold war. The Visby is designed for anti-submarine warfare and can sneak up on the enemy and plant anti-submarine mines without being seen. The Visby's 57mm cannon also retracts so as to not to spoil the ship's radar signature. The Visby weighs approximately 600 tonnes, about half as much as a conventional corvette, and features a hangar for an Agusta-Westland helicopter, which can land on the upper deck and be retracted into the hull. The ship, the first of five on order for the Royal Swedish Navy, will have a crew of 43 (including 16 conscripts) and will go into operation in January next year.

Sounding more like an Ikea sofa than a warship of the future, the Visby is being primed to patrol Sweden's territorial waters and participate in joint operations within the EU and UN task forces.